I am Kristóf Karner, an independent developer
I build and maintain web systems for small and medium businesses. This page exists so that what I do does not have to be guessed at.
- Written by
- Kristóf Karner — independent developer, Budapest
- Updated
- 11 August 2026
I am an independent developer based in Budapest. I build websites and web systems for small and medium businesses, and I maintain what I build — most of my work is not the building, but what comes after it.
This page exists so that what I do does not have to be guessed at. It covers how I got here, what exactly I do, how I work, and what I do not take on.
How I got here
I started building websites in 2020, as a hobby. I began with ready-made themes, and I was roughly where everyone is at that stage: it worked, as long as nothing had to change.
Since 2023 I have been working with businesses. The first jobs were brochure sites; then came the work a template does not solve — a custom editing interface, card payments, automated invoicing, granting and revoking access. That is where the work turned towards what I do now.
I have been self-employed since the summer of 2024, and working at it full time since the summer of 2026. I have been working with most of my clients for years: the site was built, and I have maintained, extended and advertised it ever since.
What I actually do
I build web systems. Booking and scheduling, card payments with Stripe, automated invoicing, Telegram-based access control. Most of the work is custom backend: the layer that runs beneath the surface, and that no ready-made plugin covers.
I build websites — brochure sites, and multi-page sites with an editing interface where the client maintains the content afterwards. There is a separate piece on how long that takes.
I maintain. Updates, backups, bug fixes, small changes — on a monthly retainer. It is the longest and least spectacular part of the work, and it has a page of its own.
I run Google Ads campaigns for the clients whose sites I also built. The two are the same job: the campaign leads somewhere, and that somewhere has to work.
And I prepare every new site for language models, not only for search engines. The AI visibility page goes into that.
What I build all of this with — WordPress, hand-written HTML, and what runs beneath them — has a page of its own.
How I work
Alone. There is no team behind me, no project manager, and no handover between developers — what we agree on, I also build. The cost of that is that one person's capacity is finite: I do not take on more than I can do properly.
By email, but not only. After the first exchange we usually talk as well — on a call or by phone, because it is easier to build trust that way on both sides. The bulk of the work stays in writing, though: it is clearer that way, and it does not rest on improvisation.
For the long run. I do not think in projects but in systems that have to keep running for years. That is why I do not take on anything I could not maintain afterwards — even when the job itself would be worth it.
- FROM THE FIRST EMAIL
- Email: what needs solving → Conversation: call or phone → Build: tracked in writing → Maintenance: on retainer
- MEASURED IN WEEKS
- The first three steps. RUNS FOR YEARS: the fourth.
- Why it works this way
- The fourth step is the longest, and most of my work is there. Which is why I do not take on anything I could not maintain afterwards.
What I do not take on
Taking over an unfamiliar system. If an existing site runs on something I do not know — not WordPress and not hand-written HTML — I will not take it on for maintenance. An unfamiliar system is handled efficiently by whoever built it. In that case I offer one thing, and I offer it honestly: rebuilding the site.
Urgent work. I am not an emergency service: if something has just gone down on a site I do not maintain, I cannot step in immediately. My existing clients can reach me by phone, though, because I know their systems.
Upselling. I do not approach my existing clients with suggestions about what else they might need. If I see something worth fixing while working, I say so — but I do not call anyone up in order to sell them something.
Where I take on work from
I live and work in Budapest. Most of my clients are in Hungary, but I take on work from anywhere within the European Union, remotely — that keeps the invoicing simple for both sides.
If you have something and cannot tell whether it falls within this: write to me. If it is not my kind of work, I will say so — and where I can, I will tell you who to ask instead. A badly matched engagement costs us both more than an honest no.
Questions on this topic
How long have you been doing this?
I have been building websites since 2020, at first as a hobby, from ready-made themes. Since 2023 I have worked with businesses, since the summer of 2024 as a sole trader, and since the summer of 2026 full time. I have worked with most of my clients for years: the site was built, and I have maintained it ever since.
What kinds of businesses do you work for?
I typically work with businesses of one to twenty people with no IT department, where the website is not decoration but has a job to do. The industry matters less than that — which fields I have worked in so far is what the references show.
Do you work alone or with a team?
Alone. There is no project manager and no handover between developers — what we agree on, I also build. The cost of that is that one person's capacity is finite: I do not take on more than I can do properly.
Do you take on clients from abroad?
Yes, from anywhere within the European Union, remotely — which keeps invoicing simple for both sides. I work in Hungarian and English.
Is there work you do not take on?
Three kinds. Taking over an unfamiliar system: if an existing site runs on something I do not know — not WordPress and not hand-written HTML — I will not take it on for maintenance, and I offer a rebuild instead. Urgent work: I am not an emergency service, though my existing clients can reach me by phone. And upselling: I do not approach existing clients with suggestions about what else they might need.